Lollapalooza Suspended, Resumed After Dangerous Weather Conditions

The 2012 installment of Lollapalooza has thus far brought the requisite extremes, in terms of performances and potent weather. A two-hour delay cut through the middle of Saturday's entertainment at Chicago's Grant Park, and a good many people were wishing they had just the record heat to contend with when the storm clouds rolled in.

At about 3:30 p.m., word began circulating the grounds that bad weather was approaching, and that performances would be suspended. Indie rockers Chairlift, the blues reinventors Alabama Shakes, and pop-rapper B.o.B were all casualties of what turned out to be close to three hours of a warranted rain delay.

In a statement from Shelby Meade, communications director for C3
Presents, the promoter behind Lollapalooza: "Our first priority is
always the safety of our fans, staff, and artists. We regret having to
suspend any show, but safety always comes first."

When the rain hit, it came down in sheets, soaking Grant Park and the surrounding
areas. The grounds were being cleared, but it was a slow process, with
many attendees being reluctant to leave. There were a lot of long faces
and despondent looks on the fans that were being evacuated.

Here are some first-hand photos of the Lollapalooza evacuation process from Erik Hess:

Photos By Erik Hess

Much of the updates/rumors that circulated over the afternoon came from Twitter.

Here are some Twitter updates from Flea of the Red Hot Chili
Peppers, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Frank Ocean, Chicago Tribune
music writer Greg Kot, and the official Lollapalooza twitter statement,
as well as an overhead shot of the evacuation process.